Latino Buzz: Fénix Iberoamerican Film Awards

Latino Buzz: Fénix Iberoamerican Film Awards

The first Fénix Iberoamerican Film Awards, (Phoenix Awards) highlighting and celebrating cinema made in Latin America, Spain, and Portugal as well as applauding the professionals involved was inaugurated by Cinema 23 this October 30th, a couple days before Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, one of the most important holidays in México. The event brought together hundreds of figures from the Iberoamerican film community who celebrated the well-deserved recognition to their work and to their dedication. At the same time, the event served to strengthen relationships among the diverse industries and will continuously help forge the region’s identity.

Aside from enumerating the awards here, we wish to show how the films’ dissemination throughout the world is, in fact succeeding by showing sales agents and commercial distributors, some of many festivals the films played, and some of the awards won.

Winner: "The Golden Cage" ("La Juala de oro") by Diego Quemada-Díez, a coproduction of Guatemala, Spain and Mexico, since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard in 2013 where Quemada-Díez won A Certain Talent Award for his directing work and the ensemble cast has received a total of 67 awards, including 9 Ariel awards by the Mexican Film Academy: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best First Feature, Best Actor, Best Upcoming Actor, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Music. It also won Best Picture, Best Editing and Best Sound at the Fenix Awards. Producers sold to Benelux – Wild
Bunch Benelux, France – Pretty
Pictures , Mexico – Canibal
Networks,, Portugal – Legendmain
Filmes, Spain – Golem
Distribución, Taiwan – Maison
Motion, U.K. – Peccadillo
Pictures.

"Letter to a Father" of Edgardo Cozarinsky, a coproduction from France and Argentina screened at Mar del Plata, Cinema du reel 2014 (Competition), Vienna and Jerusalem among other festivals. Doc and FIlms has the international rights.

The Latin American Festival Award, decided by the Advisory Council Cinema23 went to the Havana Film Festival (Festival de Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano). On December 3, 1979, over five hundred film professionals, mainly from Latin America, met in Havana, Cuba, for the inaugural Festival of New Latin American Cinema, which in its own words, "sought to build a space to identify and disseminate films whose significance and artistic values enrich and reaffirm American and Caribbean cultural identity where rich dialogue between film professionals, students and the informed public and critics gather". For decades and through its multiple realities Havana has played a role in community building around film as an art form and as an incentive for social reflection.

The work of more than three decades by a team led today by Ivan Giroud and which survives the noble and generous spirit of its founder, Alfredo Guevara, and those like Santiago Alvarez and Gabriel García Márquez, who have accompanied him from his beginnings, deserves to be recognized by those who think that culture is a way that allows us to approach, meet, recognize and move away from violence towards a better world. "With this award go our admiration and our gratitude to the Festival of New Latin American Cinema of Havana."

The Critics’ Award, selected by FIPRESCI (Federation International Film Critics) went to the Brazilian writer José Carlos Avellar for his critical work. An admired and appreciated writer, critic, teacher and programmer, Avellar worked for over twenty years for the newspaper Jornal do Brasil, and has published six books on Brazilian and Latin American cinema. The former vice-president of FIPRESCI is also Berlinale’s delegate in Brazil. More information and examples of his work can be found in his website www.escrevercinema.com.

The resurgence of Mexican films which began in 2001 with the all-time
hit "Amores Perros"by Alejandro González Iñárritu and
which also introduced Gael Garcia Bernal to the public (U.S. box office
$5,408,467,
worldwide $20,908,467) and "El crimen del Padre Amaro" in 2002 (U.S. box
office $5,717,044, worldwide: $26,996,738) up until the hits, "Nosotros
los Nobles" and "No se aceptan devoluciones" had the highest number
admissions than any other Mexican film. Twelve years later, in six
weeks "No se aceptan devolucions" outgrossed both "Amores"
and "El crimen" combined. México Televisa’s
Videocine Mexican box office was US $44,882,061 and U.S. box office was $44,143,000. This is truly an exhibitor’s dream movie.

No
sooner had "Los Nobles" swept the Mexican box-office off its feet than
another Mexican movie, independently produced by Monica Lozano’s México
City-based Alebrije Cine y Video, "Instructions Not Included" was
released — first in the U.S. by Pantelion on August 30, 2013, almost
three weeks before its Mexican release on September 20, 2013. The two
countries grossed an equal amount. Moreover, Videocine released the film
on 1,500 prints similar to a major release of a film such as "Batman".
Through the Cinepolis chain’s use of satellite, these 1,500 prints were
able to show on 2,500 screens. This represents both a new release
pattern and a new type of Mexican film.

Previously
Mexican films which were meant for the Mexican and Mexican-American
audience (as opposed to those targeted to the art house audiences) were
perceived as too Mexican by their U.S. target and they were released in
the U.S. only after the Mexican release, and by that time, piracy had
done its work in the U.S. and the film lacked the prestige of an
"American" film. This film and the previous film, "The Noble Family",
are not typically Mexican. Their storyline could be transposed
anywhere, and in fact "The Noble Family" remake rights have been sold to
U.S. In addition, releasing the film first in the U.S. changes the
perception of the film in México. Being such a success in U.S. paves
the way for its success in México as if it were validated as a "good"
film.

Added to these two elements is the third key to success, Eugenio
Derbez, the director and star of "Instructions", is a major TV comedy
star in México and is known by all Mexicans wherever they reside.
Mexican TV is quite powerful, it has a duopoly made by Televisa and TV
Azteca. Derbez comes from Televisa. The film was also shot in English
and Spanish and takes place in the U.S. Finally, Derbez himself and
former head of production at Pantelion, Ben Odell, have now established a
production company, 3 Spas, pronounced "Tres Paz" which funnily enough
sounds like "tripas" or "guts". Reese Witherspoon whose film "Wild"
opened the festival said that she had approached Derbez for a film she
was producing already, but he was busy. However, she hopes they will
soon find a project to do together. How great that will be for the
exhibitors, the distributors and the audiences around the world!

The Phoenix Lifetime Achievement Award,
which is awarded by the different academies and film associations in
all the differenct countries of the region and announced by the Mexican
Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences, went to Arturo Ripstein.
Recognized as one of the great masters in the history of Mexican
cinema, Ripstein said, "I’m glad to say that a lifetime achievement
award is usually given when one is finished with everything. But I am
pleased to say that I still need a bit of experience, because next week I
start my new film. I’ve been practicing this craft half a century, and
this (the Phoenix Award ) symbolizes what it has really cost me over the
past 50 years."